Kavaka

Kavaka o Fuvupo  
Kavaka o Fuvupo

The Kavaka o Fuvupo (literally the “Elders’ Script”) was invented
by David Peterson and is used to write the Kamakawi language. It is
a complex script which comprises a syllabary plus several subsystems involving
pictograms, logograms, ideograms and other mixed glyphs.

Internal History and Usage

The full writing system developed over the course of several centuries,
with the syllabary being the last step in the process. The script itself
takes the iku (a word meaning “character” or “glyph”) as its basic
unit. All iku take up the same amount of physical space, but a given
iku may stand for a syllable, a whole word, part of a word, or simply
an idea. Altogether, there are almost 600 iku. Sentences are written either
from top to bottom (in formal texts), or from left to right, with no spaces
between iku.

Syllabary

The Kavaka i Oala (literally the Spoken Script) is used to spell
out borrowed words, but is also used for many native words. In addition, syllabic
iku are often used in conjunction with other iku to create
phonosemantic compounds.

Kavaka o Fuvupo Syllabary

Other Glyph Types

In addition to syllabic iku, there are six main iku types used
to encode the bulk of Kamakawi’s vocabulary.

Ikuiku

These are pictographs that are intended to depict the word they encode.

Kavaka o Fuvupo Ikuiku

Ikunoala

These iku comprise one or more syllabic glyphs, resulting in an
iku whose pronunciation can often be guessed from its parts.

Kavaka o Fuvupo Ikunoala

Iku’ui

A kind of combination of the previous two, iku’ui usually involve a
superimposed iku which adds phonological or semantic information to
a base iku.

Kavaka o Fuvupo Ikuui

Iku’ume

Iku’ume are slightly modified variants of other iku (often
a stroke is simply added to one iku to produce a related iku).

Kavaka o Fuvupo Ikuume

Ikuleyaka

Formerly, the Kamkawi script had a series of determinatives. Ikuleyaka
are iku which retain some of the old determinatives. (The examples below
all contain the negative line determinative.)

Kavaka o Fuvupo Ikuleyaka

Ikunima’u

Finally, ikunima’u comprise iku that don’t fit neatly into one
of the categories above.

Kavaka o Fuvupo Ikuima'u

Numerals

The Kamakawi have a base 10 counting system which is represented graphically by the iku below.

Kavaka o Fuvupo numerals

Punctuation

There are four main punctuation marks in Kavaka o Fuvupo which are
used to demarcate sentences, to set off emphasized material, to surround questions,
and to surround quotations. Those four marks are shown below in the order listed above.

Kavaka o Fuvupo punctuation

Sample Text

Sample text in Kavaka o Fuvupo

Transliteration

Au emimu uila emi takemi u iema poe takoiki oi pou ikopuku. Au aemu omoko oi foyoko ti upea ae ha’ala’i i ikaika tie takeolaka ea.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Links

More information about Kavaka o Fuvupo
http://dedalvs.com/kamakawi/orthography.html

More information about the Kamakawi language
http://dedalvs.com/kamakawi/

Kamakawi Word of the Day (featuring Kavaka o Fuvupo)
http://dedalvs.com/kamakawi/wotd/

  • Post category:Languages
  • Reading time:5 mins read